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So, I figured that no bicycle forum would be complete without pictures of bikes! Post your photos here, no bike will be refused: Road TT Triathlon Cyclocross MTB BMX Shixie Fixie And anything else! Lovely bikes lovely, but everyday bikes interesting too. I won't post first, but I'm taking pictures right now. 🙂 I wanna see what bikes you're all riding!
New addition to the fleet, a
New addition to the fleet, a Specialized Aethos. This is the Comp model, 12 speed 105 Di2, 10r carbon layup in pearlescent white, with upgraded wheels (Roval Alpinist SLX) and power meter (4iiii Precision 3+). Lightweight, and very comfortable.
1981 Raleigh brochure on EBay
1981 Raleigh brochure on EBay – a missing link in the catalogues available on line. Bidding starts at £35.
This is the bike I used for
This is the bike I used for my LEJoG last year. After that, it deserved a treat: new powder coat and new wheels after the Hunt wheels cracked at the nipples. It’s a Black Mountain Road Plus, currently at over 16500 miles, 26500 km.
I also splurged on the ENVE bar tape. It seems very nice so far.
Acorn bag which I’ve owned since my previous touring bike.
René Herse 46/30 crankset and Switchback Hill Tires, 650b x 48 mm, tubeless. Mechanical 11 speed Ultegra. I have a 27 tooth for the crankset coming, as I didn’t like how much walking I had to do on my LEJoG.
My turn to have a go at this
My turn to have a go at this
Colnago Master X-Light – purchased the frame with headset fitted (Campagnolo Record 1″) from Maestro about 12/13 years. Original build was 10 speed Campagnolo with Flite titanium saddle, Zonda Wheels, Velo Orange stem and FSA Omega Pro bars (anodised as close to “silver” as I could get them). Blackbutn bottle cages.
It has changed over the years and the groupset is now mostly 11 Speed Potenza with the original Chorus 10 speed cranks (because they are prettier) and Skeleton calipers. Stem and seat-post from Nitto with original FSA Omega Pro bars. Wheels are Hope RS4 hubs laced to HPlus Son TB14 rims in silver. Virrotia Rubino Pro tyres (28mm just fits in) Current saddle is Specialized Oura and Look pedals.
If weather is looking good then it is my commute bike, Marin Nicasio 2 gets rolled out for the wetter days.
Also have a Colnago E1 lurking in the garage that gets rolled out on the good days.
In Richard’s Bicycle Book, he
In Richard’s Bicycle Book, he surveys the bike market as it stood 40 years ago, going through from entry level to medium/ high end. How I used to drool over that section. He gets in Touring Bicycles to the Claud Butler Majestic, and its upgraded Special variant, and there’s a pithy little comment, “…of about the minimum quality that I feel is appropriate for regular riding.” The ‘handsome’ RRA is discussed under fast touring bikes.
So here we are with a recent, slightly mad purchase of a pretty much untouched Record Ace 1983 at a price I’m pretty comfortable with. It’s had some moderate use, but then I think a long period of non-use. All the bearings were pretty dry.
It’s lost its toe clips, someone had tried to wrap a second layer of h/bar cloth which was all a bit manky. It appears that the brown pigment on the brake cables had faded. The tan Weinmann hoods were on the way out too – no longer available AFAIK. Someone had also badly coloured the top ends and infilled the lugs, which I’m pleased to report came right off with cellulose thinners.
So here it is, replete with new Schwalbe Road Cruiser tyres, Dia Compe hoods and Newbaums cloth. The 27” tyres that were on it and the tubes seemed to be the originals, Raleigh branded, and you rarely see the original suede saddle (not that it’s anything like that highly prized holy grail, the blue Road Ace saddle.) The gold ESGE mudguards, no longer made, are often missing from RRAs you see about, or they turn out to be damaged or faded.
The Road Cruisers are fatter, so the rear stays are a replacement from Spa and the addition of SKS pop-outs gave a small, but necessary bit of give at the front. It’s hard (impossible?) to find the single stays in the right length, and many modern stays are 3.4mm diameter, so a lot of eyes don’t fit.
Among the many things that have changed down the years is that handlebars are wider – these are 375mm wide and I normally ride 400 or 410 mm – it’s really noticeable. Brake shoes and callipers are better these days, gearing is way better – not sure the old skool 52/42t chainset is for me and the “Campagnolo” 144 mm BCD isn’t helpful.
I’ve previously done a 1984 RRA, sticking where possible to the sprit of the original, but upgrading brakes, 700c wheels, Stronglight chainset and 10s gears. But, I’m going to banish these impure thoughts for a while and see if I can get along with this one as it is.
My BMC Roadmachine One only
My BMC Roadmachine One only upgrade is the Zipp 303s and Continental GPS5000S TR 28mm
One of several bikes
A couple of changes to this,
A couple of changes to this, one of my favourite builds.
As it’s a 22.5″ frame, I’ve always found the bars a bit on the low side. I’ve changed over to a longer stem, which necessitated new bars for the 25.4mm fit. Having a raised (thicker) clamping area makes so much sense – without it, you can struggle to pass the bars through the quill stem – in this case, I had to bend it out and then bend it back to get the bolt seated. The Cambium bar tape was amenable to being re-installed.
I’ve taken off the Continental 5000s – they weren’t all that puncture proof IME and we’re running Hutchison Challenger 28s for winter now.
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